The best way for a society to prepare its young people for leadership in government, industry, or other fields is by instilling in them a sense of cooperation, not competition.

Leaders must develop a mariad of skills and this list of qualities is highly subjective in nature. However, a true leader must cooperate effectively with his or her followers rather than display a competition drive.

In a democractic government, the political leaders gain power through the voice of the people. In other words, the politician must cooperate with citizens in order to gain their approval. Otherwise, the leader will not stay in office very long. Take for example a North Carolina senator who does not cooperate with his constituents on a controversial issue of offshore drilling. However fiercely he competes with his fellow politicians to pass a bill allowing such drilling, his leadership will surely come into question during the next election.

Like the state politician, a country leader must absolutely cooperate with his country's citizens. The leader is responsible for embodying the ideals and opinions of his country. To betray their respect is to betray his country. On the other hand, a highly competitive leader is far more likely to start wars, leading to violence and killings. For example, the news has been focusing its concern on China's assumed nuclear stockpile. This is likely due to the Chinese leader's desire to compete with other countrys' defenses. Yet this leader may fail at safely protecting his people, and ironically cause fighting and deaths instead.

Due to the complexity of this issue, some will not agree that a leader should sacrifice competition for cooperation. Both poltics and industry are highly competitive fields. However, a competitive nature does not gurantee the success of a leader. He or she must first rise through the ranks of either government office or the company, which is primarly accomplished through cooperation.

In some cases, a leader must be both competitive as well cooperative. Indeed, a leader should display various qualities and traits. But cooperation supercedes competition because without working with fellow employees and constituents, one may never reach a position of power and leadership.